The whole town had been too busy dealing with the fallout from the quarantine that it drove a temporary wedge between friend and neighbour. Riverdale was heading down a dark road, one full of corruption, deceit, and the absence of trust. The Man in Black's grip on the very soul of the town was tightening and threatening to choke all of the light, and all of the good out of the people of Riverdale. The streets were full of homes with all of the curtains drawn closed. Some people had left while others were laying low in their homes until the black cloud of the unknown illness causing the seizures was discovered.
Once the men in hazmat suits had done their investigation things did go back to normal, but progress was slow. It was as though the town had been paralyzed by a fog of confusion and fear about what trouble awaited them every minute, of every day. In the wake of all the fear and despair that had befallen the town of Riverdale, it seemed like their golden girl, the perfect Betty Cooper, had slipped through the cracks and into the Sisters of Quiet Mercy unnoticed.
Betty woke up the next morning knowing she was no longer in Riverdale, at least not the Riverdale she grew up in and loved. She felt her body drenched in a layer of cold sweat as she lay on a cot in a small cement room. She kept having nightmares about the Gargoyle King, always looming over her, taunting her. Even asleep, she was not allowed any reprieve from the daily horrors of life at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Her dreams began immediately when she closed her eyes. Images of the things she had seen in the Gargoyle King's chamber. Hearing his words as he told her that she was alone now, and compliance was the only path to true salvation in the kingdom of Eldervair.
Betty lay in bed shaking, remembering the terrifying first 48 hours she had spent with the Gargoyle King. After her escape, she was to learn a lesson being left alone in his chamber. At the end of it, she feared him, deeply. His words and his touch burned her in ways she couldn't describe.
In her terror stricken memories, Betty could clearly remember how it felt, physically, when he had imposed his wrath upon her. She remembered chanting 'my king, my savior' over and over again hoping to please the king, to make it stop. She could not remember when or how she had gotten back to her room. It had not taken long for the drug induced hallucinations to become her new reality, and Betty embraced them without question.
The Gargoyle King was real, she still couldn't believe that such a creature existed. Her logical mind had tried desperately to disprove what she had witnessed but, the images of the winged beast towering over her, and raking its claws against her skin were burned into her memory.
"My king, my savior." Betty whispered to herself, sitting on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands. She had begun each day since her foiled escape in the same way. It was her prayer that she would not do anything that day to upset the King and invoke his wrath.
Heavy footsteps, multiple pairs, were echoing down the corridor outsider of her room. Moments later Sister Woodhouse and another orderly entered.
Sister Woodhouse looked at Betty with a twisted smile and said, "Good morning Elizabeth."
Turning to the orderly she said, "This one is a very special patient. Make sure she gets the proper dosage as per his orders."
Sister Woodhouse then approached Betty and stood in front of her, arms crossed.
"Open up dear, it is time for your candy." Sister Woodhouse said as the nurse stepped out from behind her holding a paper cup out to Betty.
The nurse had a no nonsense look on her wrinkled face. Her cold stare reminded Betty of the dark and empty eyes of the Gargoyle King as she loomed over her. Betty accepted the paper cup and swallowed the fizzle rocks without protest. Not that she had a choice, they would force them down her throat and send her to the king for punishment if she didn't. There was no way that she could put herself through that again.
The candy tasted different today, and not just in flavor. Normally the cherry flavor of the fizzle rocks was the most pleasant part of having drugs forced into her system. But today, the cherry flavor was replaced by something else, something medicinal. The cherry flavor was still there. Betty could just taste it lingering on her tongue but it was heavily overpowered by a strong pharmaceutical taste.
"Good job girlie, I am glad to see that your time with the King has taught you a lesson in obedience. Your mother said that she had quite a lot of trouble trying to keep you in line Elizabeth, use your time here wisely. This place will make you into the young woman you were destined to be, if only you let it."
A wicked smile played on the lips of Sister Woodhouse. Watching the ever problematic Elizabeth Cooper comply this easily was a treat. Her talk with the Man in Black the night before had gone very well when she revealed exactly which Riverdale girl had come to stay with them at the Sister's. Hiram proved to be very interested in Miss Cooper. Her mother truly had perfect timing in dropping her off here when she did. Sister Woodhouse was looking forward to rehabilitating Elizabeth and turning her into a proper young lady of The Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Not to mention the money that she would need it to sustain their way of life within the safety of the building walls, away from the unfair scrutiny of the world.
Sister Woodhouse gave one last glance to Betty before nodding to the nurse and leaving the two of them alone in the room.
The nurse looked down at the girl, she was no longer coherent. Not that she had been in the first place. The fresh dose of the new drugs was quickly taking hold. The woman took note of the dark circles under her eyes and the hollowed out look to her cheeks satisfied that Elizabeth Cooper was now a junkie. Their junkie, and oh how she loved to watch those girls squirm under the influence. These drugs truly were a nasty creation. The hallucinations were so vivid that the Man in Black had these girls talking to and worshiping a stone gargoyle statue as if it was a real king. Within a matter of days the addiction sets in, and the person's connection to reality outside of the realm of Eldervair becomes more and more tenuous. It was a treat to watch.
The orderly smiled down at Betty. The girl was clearly high, her head was lolling to the side and her muscles looked limp and lifeless. Her head was hanging loosely at her shoulders, and the orderly thought that had she seen her from far away she might have mistaken her for a life sized rag doll. These new drugs clearly worked quick and well with the added ingredients.
"We are going to help you dear, but it's time to get you cleaned up and out to the yard for chores with the other girls. Now, get dressed and be ready to go in 10 minutes or there will be consequences. A young lady should always be on time for her engagements." The nurse said, leaving Betty to change dropping a pile of fresh clothing down on the bed next to her.
In her drug addled state, Betty slowly and shakily got to her feet. Thinking was hard. Too hard, as her thoughts swirled and terrifying images of the Gargoyle King plagued her mind. She stumbled trying to pull off her clothes, unable to think of anything other than what might happen to her back in his chamber if she didn't get dressed fast enough.
"I won't disappoint you my king." Betty said to herself as she slowly worked through putting on the clean clothes.
She nearly toppled over as she lifted her foot to pull on her stockings, but she caught herself on the bed and plopped down. She was dizzy, and her movements felt like they were taking place under water. Betty knew she didn't have much time before she would get in trouble for taking too long. If only she didn't feel like there was a current of water pushing her one way or the other whenever she tried to stand straight, maybe she could get dressed in a reasonable amount of time.
As the minutes ticked by, Betty began more and more frantically pulling at her clothing. She had already been sent to see the King once for being late. She did not want to go back. The second punishment for the same offence was worlds worse than the first one. The King had said as much the last time, and Betty feared for what that could possibly mean.
The nuns ushered the girls out to the yard in a single file line. Nobody strayed, and they walked in complete silence. Betty dragged her feet, her legs felt like jelly beneath her. She tried not to look around as they walked. Something about all the color and sunlight overwhelmed her, and Betty felt nauseous just thinking about all the commotion going on outside of the hazy pharmaceutically induced prison that her mind was in. Staring down at her feet made her feel grounded, or at least as grounded as it was possible for her to feel.
Sometimes, in the back of her mind there was a young man's voice. His words sounded kind even though she couldn't always make out what he was saying. When she closed her eyes, she could almost see his silhouette, and she could clearly picture his hat. It was probably because of the distinctive crown shape.
These memories were becoming less frequent for Betty, whose time in Hiram's twisted grasp was dragging on for too long. Even someone like Elizabeth Cooper, the girl who caught the Black Hood, had a breaking point. The drugs and the mental torment were bringing her closer and closer to the edge every day. The last strands of her sanity were threatening to break as she was drawn deeper and deeper into the Gargoyle King's twisted world. The drugs were only making it easier for them to break her.
She had hoped Jughead would come for her. But she knew he had left with Archie, and the odds of him even knowing that she was missing were slim to none. What Betty didn't know as she knelt in the garden doing the King's work to keep their home pristine, was that there was someone watching, and that her freedom would come sooner than she expected. The question was, when her freedom did finally come, would there be enough of the old Betty left to save?